1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to semiconductor devices, and more specifically to power management of semiconductor devices.
2. Background Art
With the increasing performance and attendant thermal dissipation requirements of modern semiconductor devices, effective power management emerges as a growing concern. In particular, for applications running continuously around the clock, such as heavily loaded data center applications where many processes may run in parallel, even small optimizations in power consumption can lead to large savings in operating costs. Besides practical cost considerations, providing “green” solutions is also desirable to demonstrate corporate responsibility and generate customer goodwill.
Conventionally, power management algorithms have focused on short term or immediate workloads. However, using this narrow focus may lead to constantly fluctuating voltage adjustments and inefficiencies resulting from overestimating or underestimating long-term workloads. For example, voltage and frequency may be unnecessarily ramped up beyond a performance level necessary to meet long-term deadlines, resulting in wasted power consumption.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art to provide power management for semiconductor devices that can provide higher efficiency than conventional methods of power management.